Chapter 20
Edward's POV
He was in class when he felt his phone vibrating in his back pocket. He didn't pay attention to it, he thought that it was just his mom wanting to talk about the baby. Since Bella was six months along Esme seemed to be calling more and more to talk about the baby. Edward loved his mom but two phone calls a day was a little extreme - even for him.
When his phone stopped buzzing he went back to the notes in front of him but then the phone began to vibrate again and his heart stopped...this could not be good.
He didn't hesitate before pulling it out and looking at the name that was lit up on the top of his phone. His heart stopped again when he realized that Jasper was calling him, something in his gut told him that this was not good.
He immediately packed up his items and flew out of the classroom before anyone around him could object to his absence.
"Hello?" He said into the phone the moment he was in the hallway and running to the exit. He prayed that this had nothing to do with the baby - what if something happened while he was gone and he wasn't there to be with Bella? The second it took for Jasper to respond to him was the longest second of his life.
"Dude, I'm so sorry. He took her. I didn't see him coming, he just came out of nowhere and knocked me out…"
Edward paused when he heard those gut-wrenching words. He took her. It was his worst fear to come to life. After weeks of waiting for news on Jacob Black's whereabouts and hoping that he just left town, he found her. He took Edward's reason for living away and Edward couldn't pay attention to anything else that Jasper was saying. The last time that he saw Bella just kept replaying in his mind.
She was sleeping when he left her this morning due to his early class. He didn't want to leave her but they were supposed to be going over important topics that he would need to have notes on so he wouldn't fail his final. He balled his fists up when he thought about finals, those were the last thing that concerned him right now. He wanted to go back to this morning and say screw it and just stay in bed with Bella all day. As long as he was with her she was safe.
This was all his fault.
Why did he leave her?
His name being shouted brought him out of his regretful thoughts. He didn't realize that he had dropped the phone on the ground while he was standing there. He reached for it, realized with mild interest that there was now a crack through the middle of the phone, and put it back to his ear.
"Edward, are you there?" Jasper asked, worriedly.
Edward began to race to his car while he spoke with Jasper.
"I'm here. I'm on my way. Call the detective and tell her what happened. Her card should be on our fridge." He hung up without saying anything else. He started the car and peeled out of the parking lot, he couldn't care less about the possibility of being pulled over. His thoughts were on Bella and their unborn child, where were they?
~LCA~
The moment he pulled his car into the parking lot of the apartment building he noticed that two squad cars were just parking. He noticed Detective Emily Uley first, she was just getting out of her car and was barking orders to the other officers that were around her. The moment Jasper came out of the building and headed to where the officers were parked Edward saw red.
He flung himself out of his car and made a straight b-line to Jasper.
"Edward-"
Before he could say anything else Edward grabbed him and pushed him back into the truck that was behind him.
"How could you let this happen? I trusted you with her and you let him take her?" He was able to get in only one punch before two officers pulled him off of Jasper. He realized that Jasper hadn't struggled or tried to fight him off, once that realization hit him he felt all the fight drain out of him and he went limp in the officer's grasp.
"Jasper!" He heard Alice shout. She came running from her car to look at the damage that Edward had done. "Edward, what did you do?" She yelled at him. He didn't have time to answer before he was shoved into the side of a cop car.
"Officer Call! What do you think you're doing?" He heard Detective Uley call out to the officer that was attempting to place cuffs on Edward's wrists.
"This man just assaulted that gentlemen over there," Officer Call said in a confused voice.
"Sir, do you want to press charges?" Detective Uley called to Jasper when she was at Edward's side.
Jasper just shook his head so Detective Uley stared at Officer Call until he removed the handcuffs.
"Edward, hurting Jasper isn't going to get your girlfriend back. Bella needs you right now, are you able to be here or do I need to have you escorted to the station?" She asked him, sternly.
"It won't happen again," he muttered. His anger was reserved for one person and one person only - Jacob Black.
Edward and Detective Uley walked up to Jasper and Edward cringed when he saw the blood that was already drying on Jasper's face.
"I'm sorry about that," he told Jasper.
"It's okay, I deserved it. I shouldn't have let him sneak up on me, it's my fault she's gone," Jasper whispered the last part to himself.
"Sir, show us where it happened," Emily Uley demanded of Jasper.
Jasper nodded his head and went to where his car was parked. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Edward but when he looked closer he could see little droplets of blood on the asphalt. His stomach roiled as he heard Jasper recount the story of how Bella was taken from him, only part of him was relieved when he heard Jasper say that the blood was his own.
"Did you see the attacker?" Uley asked him while scribbling things in the little notebook that she seemed to always carry with her.
"I saw his reflection in that truck a split second before he hit me. I wasn't fast enough to turn on him and when I woke up she was gone."
"Edward, are there cameras around this building?" Uley asked him, urgently.
"I think there's a couple of them but I'm assuming the landlord is the only one with access to that," Edward explained.
"Show me where he stays," Uley demanded.
Edward showed them the apartment and watched with mild interest as Uley talked to their landlord. He knew deep down that these next two days were crucial towards finding Bella alive and well...he couldn't think of finding Bella anything less than those two things.
He closed his eyes and prayed - even though he wasn't at all religious - to whoever was listening that he would find Bella and their child both alive.
He didn't know if he'd be able to live with the alternative.
Bella's POV
She was groggy when she finally woke up. She had the worst nightmare and turned to the side to hold onto Edward, he always helped chase away any bad dreams but she didn't encounter his warm body lying next to her. She tried to move her arm to feel around but realized that she wasn't able to move either of her arms - she was restrained to the bed frame.
That was when everything came back to her and she remembered why she was here.
She gasped as she opened her eyes and looked around the room in fear. The walls were stained, the door to the bathroom seemed to not be connected to the wall, and there were alcohol bottles strewn around the floor. The blanket that Bella was laying on looked as if it hadn't been washed in days and the pillow that was under her bed seemed to be stuffed with newspaper. She whimpered when her eyes met Jacob's.
He was sitting in a chair next to her bed and smiled when their eyes connected.
"You've been sleeping for a while, sweetheart. I was almost worried that I might have given you too much but I'm happy to see that I was wrong," he told her with a smile that she thought was meant to be comforting but only served to send bile up her throat.
"Too much of what?" Her heart was racing as she thought of what this lunatic could've given her while she was unconscious. What if he hurt the baby? She'd never forgive herself if she lost the baby because she wasn't strong enough to protect her. When she felt the slight fluttering in her belly she breathed a sigh of relief, Carlie seemed to be doing fine right now. That just meant that Bella needed to get out of wherever she was, she would do anything to protect her daughter.
"You don't need to worry about that, baby doll. I'm going to take good care of you and once we have this," he motioned to her stomach, "out of the way then we'll be able to go somewhere safe and start over."
She had to swallow back the vomit that was trying to fight it's way out of her mouth when he spoke of killing her baby. Over her dead body. She just had to hope that she was strong enough to get out of this situation and find a way to get back to Edward. An idea formed in the back of her head, she just prayed that he would buy it.
"What took you so long, baby?" Her tongue burned when she called him by the pet name that she only called Edward but she knew that it had to be done.
"He wouldn't let you out of his sight. I saw the way that he treated you; keeping you hostage day and night. I knew that you had to do whatever to get away from him, I forgive you for letting him touch you. I'll make sure that you forget all about his hands over your body and only remember the way mine make you feel." He dragged his fingers up and down her arm and she had to restrain herself from flinching away from him. She could not let him see the fear that she was feeling, he had to believe that she really wanted to be here with him.
"I missed you so much but you know that he'll try to find me. He'll never stop," she told him. She knew it to be true, Edward would stop at nothing to find her and their child. Her heart broke as she thought of the pain that he was feeling right now with her gone. She knew that he would be blaming himself, she had to do whatever she could to get to him and make him see reason.
"I know, baby doll. I have a ticket on a flight that will get us out of the country. I have someone making you a passport and me and you will be able to see the world together."
She swallowed before speaking. "When does our flight leave?" She knew that it would be harder for Edward to find her if she was out of the country.
"In a couple days, we have to get rid of that problem first," he sneered towards her stomach, "and then I'll give you some recovery time before traveling."
"Jacob, how are you planning on getting rid of...this?" Her heart was pounding so fast that she almost feared that he would be able to hear it, it was getting harder and harder to breathe.
"I have a friend that's going to help me, don't worry, you won't feel a thing," he promised her.
She closed her eyes before taking a deep breath and asking the one question that she didn't want to know the answer to. "When is your friend getting here?" She needed to know how much time she had.
"In a couple hours," he told her.
"Why so quick?" She asked.
"I can't wait for our lives to begin, but that can't happen while you carry his baby around." His mouth contorted as he said 'his'. Bella could feel the hatred that he felt for Edward.
"But it's still part of me, don't you want to have a family together?" She begged him.
"I wouldn't be able to look at it without thinking of him. Why are you asking me this? Do you want this baby?" He asked her, disgustedly.
"I want a family...with you. What if this is our only chance to have a child?" She pleaded.
"Bella, I've never wanted children. I know it's selfish but I don't want your body to change, you are perfect just the way that you are but once you give birth to that thing then you'll change and you won't feel the same," he told her. He squeezed her arm harder as he looked at her with pure disgust on his face.
"Jacob, you're hurting me," she begged him.
He didn't listen to her.
"Are you in love with this baby?!" He shouted at her.
"No, Jacob, please, let go of me," she cried.
"Bella, I love you, I'm going to give you the world but I can't do that while we are taking care of something that just cries and poops. Can't you see that?" He asked her. The look in his eyes was scaring her now, she could see that he wasn't really inside himself anymore.
"Jacob, please, I love you and only you," she said.
"Liar!" He shouted. He raised his arm and - with her arms still above her head - he slapped her. He hit her a few more times - luckily, only in the face - before leaning back and sitting in the chair again.
"Don't cry, there's no use," he told her before getting up and leaving the room. She could feel the blood from her broken nose dripping down her face and mixing with the tears that were falling.
"Edward, where are you?" She whispered into the empty room.
~LCA~
It only took her an hour before she mustered up her strength and courage to escape. Jacob had come back into the room after a couple minutes outside and sat in front of the tv while they waited for his friend to show up.
She looked at her hands and realized that it was rope that was keeping her hands tied together. She started to move them up and down to try to get the rope to loosen but she didn't feel any difference. She had to do it in a way that wouldn't alert Jacob to her plan. She couldn't help the small gasp that came out of her mouth when she realized that the rope wasn't budging - but the bed frame she was attached to was.
When Jacob told her that his friend was a couple minutes out Bella knew that she had to make her move.
"Jake, can I please go to the restroom first? I don't want something to happen while your friend is taking care of the problem," she told him. He seemed to think about it for a few seconds before shuddering and coming over her to release her restraints. She noticed that he didn't loosen the rope that was holding her two hands together but he untied the knot that was holding her to the bed frame. The moment she saw that she was free she grasped the bed frame and, with all of her strength, pulled it from the rest of the bed. The second before the metal made contact with Jacob she saw the shock register in his expression.
She hit him over the head and he went down like a sack of potatoes. She dropped the metal frame before running to the door and flinging it open.
"Help me! Please!" She shouted for anyone to listen but the few people that were around didn't care enough to look twice. She spared a second to look at the motel and knew that this place was where people went to be anonymous, no one would help her here.
She heard movement behind her and, without thinking of the consequences, ran to the open road. She just had to hope that a car would stop and help her, it was her only option at this point.
"Bella, get back here!" Jacob shouted. She looked behind her and gasped when she realized how close he was getting to her. She sped up with the last of her strength and ran down the sidewalk that was next to the road. She saw a few people staring at her through their windshields but no one did anything.
She felt Jacob's fingers graze her back but before she could stop it she felt herself trip and go sprawling on the ground in front of her. She threw her arms out to protect her so her belly wouldn't touch the ground but the second that it took to protect her child was the second that it took for Jacob to fully catch up to her.
"Bitch!" He shouted before bringing his foot up to kick her stomach. She rolled to her side, the pain from that kick was enough to make her breathless.
"Please, don't," she whispered.
She just heard his cynical laugh.
She placed her hands protectively around her stomach and asked the baby for her forgiveness, she tried everything to save her little one but Jacob was just too strong for her. She waited for the next hit or kick but heard something that she never would have expected.
"Freeze!" She recognized the voice but couldn't pinpoint from where she'd heard it. Before she could think anymore she heard a voice call her name. Not just any voice but the voice of an angel, the one voice that she'd been dreaming about for who knows how long, the voice of her lover, the voice of her protector.
Her Edward.
A/N: A happy ending, of course. I told you that it would get darker and it sure did. We're getting close to the end, just a couple more chapters left and maybe an epilogue.
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